Winter 2014

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Chris Collins brings the ball up the court against Wake Forest. Courtesy of Duke Athletics.

Competitive Coach

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Game On

The Son Also Rises

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Competitive Coach

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The roots of Chris Collins’ competitive spirit run deep. He grew up playing baseball and soccer in addition to hoops but made the hardwood his singular focus after his freshman year of high school in the late 1980s at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Ill. 

“He was very confident — I don’t want to say arrogant,” says Wildcats assistant Brian James, Collins’ high school coach. “Guys respected him, and they liked him. He kept everybody loose. Not only did our team love him but the opponents hated him. He knew he was good, he had that extroverted personality on the court. He wanted the ball in his hands. He was confident he could get the job done not only for himself but for our team.”

A McDonald’s All-American and Illinois Mr. Basketball, Collins was seemingly tailor-made for Duke, where he went 83-45 as a player in four seasons from 1992 to 1996. His last two years were difficult — as a junior the Blue Devils lost a school record 18 games as Collins was hobbled by a broken foot and Mike Krzyzewski battled a back injury that kept him from coaching. But Collins’ leadership proved critical in holding things together. One shot in particular, a buzzer-beating 3 against North Carolina State his senior year, may have been the most meaningful of all. The shot bounced on the rim four times before falling in, giving the Blue Devils a one-point win and preventing Duke from falling to 0-5 in conference play.

“That shot really may have changed the direction of the program,” says Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski, Collins’ teammate and longtime coaching colleague at Duke. “I know it seems incomprehensible given where the program’s at and what it’s been able to accomplish, but had he not made that shot, there’s no telling where the season would have gone. After he made the shot, we won four games in a row. We ended up finishing .500 in a very tough ACC and made the NCAA tournament. 

“For that team — Coach K will tell you it’s maybe the least talented team he’s ever had at Duke — it was quite an accomplishment, and I think it was a direct reflection on Chris’ leadership and performance.”

As a coach, Collins developed a knack for motivating his players.

“I remember one game at N.C. State, I wasn't playing so well in the first half, and he knew I played my best when I was mad,” says Duke assistant Jon Scheyer, a fellow Glenbrook North grad and Duke player from 2006 to 2010. “He told me, ‘Man, whoever you’re guarding, he’s having fun out here. He’s having a great time playing against you. You don’t want to be here today.’ I got mad at him, but then I had 15 in the second half, and we won. Knowing how to push those buttons is what it’s all about as a coach, knowing how to get a guy going. He knew how to do that for me.”

And while Collins has mastered the art of motivation, he likes to show that he can still hold his own on the court, too. A recent video released by the team showed the coach wearing a Northwestern helmet while dunking a football. And sometimes Collins can’t help himself from going head-to-head with his own players.

“It’s kind of funny, Coach just loves basketball. We’d be in the gym before practice, getting our work in, and he’d be out on the court taking shots,” says Drew Crawford ’13. “He talks stuff like he still plays all the time. He came in there one day making NBA range 3’s, and said to me, ‘Drew, man, I really can’t tell you the last time I missed.’ He talks stuff like that because he loves the game.” — J.W.